Apparently it’s Google day here at BizEngine! We’re as surprised as you are.
This concerns the new and frankly bewildering Google Search Plus Your World, which turns Google search into a mix of the search engine we’ve all come to know and love and something that brings up private content shared only with you and your small business.
To be clear, personalized content is nothing new. If I search for, say, small business, I will likely get different results than you do, because I spend my day criss-crossing the Internet in search of small business news. What this does is add Google+ content and things that have been shared by people who know you particularly for you. I’m pretty sure the algorithm here would make my head explode.
The Reasons For Personalized Google Searches
We can speculate on the motive behind this, but it seems simple enough to me: Google wants people to find content shared on its social media services. The company made it so you have to opt out of this service, so they’re clearly going all-in on the idea.
This is basically free advertising for Google+, but there’s no reason to believe it will end there. Facebook and Twitter are going to want in on this action, and Google will be only too happy to cut them in on that hot action in exchange for a heaping slice of data. Before long, your search results may be 50% personal and 50% professional. That may skew even further over time, and that plays into the localized, personalized game that Google is so fond of.
Small Business Implications For New Google Searches
So what does this mean for your business? Two bullets.
- Nothing. Well, initially nothing. The traditional search will still work, only the picture will be complicated by personal content. Your listing on Google will still be there, and you should still attempt to get as close to the first page as possible.
- Everything. Google has been building toward this for a long time now, and it’s a fundamental change to the way the search game works. As Search Engine Land writes, personalized results are the new normal results. I’m not enough of a soothsayer to tell you how this will transform your marketing and SEO efforts, but it’s something you’ll need to carefully watch.
The impact on your business, therefore, is likely to be minimal up-front and could be profound down the line. For now, I just wanted to make all of you aware of the change.
What’s your impression of Google Search Plus Your World?
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2 Comments on "What Google Search Plus Your World Means For Small Businesses"
I’m interested to see if and how it will affect site traffic. People are accustomed to clicking on the first couple of results in the SERPs. Now, many of those pages will be bumped down, below the new personalized results. I’ll be curious to see how businesses are affected down the road.
Christie, great point. I’m waiting for a chance to play around with it myself and get a sense of that. I’m hoping it won’t be a killer for small businesses.